Fall From Grace
by Destructive Habit
Summary: “Kudos to whatever truck decided to use you as target practice, it’s a shame they missed the bulls-eye” Many pairings
1. Fights are always fun

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Auto at this point in time. It would be nice to own Amber and her relationships with everyone but Gems and Coors would think up some evil torture that not even I could withstand, though in a roundabout way I would have probably suggested that they do. Though the most evil thing Coors could do is put me and Brent in the same room, we'd probably rip each other to shreds. See, there I go again. The hate for him is spreading Coors, don't you feel special. Anyways, **_Zadien _**owns Amber and all of her relationships with everyone, she also owns Ruin, or does Ruin own herself...?

Ruin: I own myself.

Zadien: That's what you think! Back in the box or I'll tell her not to pair you with Tala, I have that power.

Amber: Really?

Zadien: Yes, and before you say anything, I'm not telling her to not pair you with Kai, you two are cute together.

Kai: Her? Cute? She's demented, not cute.

Amber: Shove it Kai, before I shove it for you. starts glaring match with Kai

DD: And this is a typical day people. looks down as Tala pulls on her sleeve What now?

Tala: Are you done yet?

DD: Yeah sure, whatever, you can go jump Ruin now, just go do it in the box so Zadien doesn't get mad at me.

Amber: GODDAMNITALLTOHELL!!!!

Zadien: Damnit, run, we're about to be in a war zone, and with those two, you don't normally wanna see the outcome.

DD: OO....Ok, on to the story, quick! Oh, quick note, this story corresponds to Zadien's Smells Like Team Spirit, if you haven't read it you're, in my opinion, an eejit.

**Fall From Grace**

**Chapter one: Fights are always fun.**

Ever changing eyes rolled and a sigh escaped her lips. Good grief, did this girl EVER shut up?!

Finally getting fed up with the constant blabbering she snapped annoyed "For the love of... I don't care about some old man who's retiring! I don't know who the hell he is! So stop asking me for money, and please, for the sake of my sanity, would you shut the fuck up! You're driving me up a damn wall!"

Autumn Winters wasn't in the least bit enjoying this, granted she wasn't in a good mood to begin with, what with that horribly hellish night she had to suffer through last night, but this girl just plain wore on your nerves! Wait, scratch that, she beat them with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire then rolled over them with a steam roller, no joke! Hickery, or whatever her name was, just stared at her a few seconds before continuing to berate Autumn with irrelevant chatter. She mentally slammed her head into anything substantially painful, like she even _cared_ about what the girl scored on finals last year!

"Anyway, here's the dorm you'll be staying in, the other occupants aren't here right now, as most of them are down at hockey practice." Hockey practice! Now that caught her attention.

"And where is the rink?" she asked with as little annoyance in her voice as she could possibly manage, still slightly irked that the girl couldn't take the hint earlier.

"Huh? Oh, it's downstairs, there are signs leading to it, now if you'll excuse me, I really should be going" and with that the girl walked off down the hall.

Throwing her bag onto the bed and sighing to herself Autumn decided unpacking could wait till later and after finding her skates, set off in search of the ice rink.

Great! Just great, how could she be lost, and where the heck were those signs that girl said there were?!

She was so busy trying to figure out just where the hell she was, that she didn't notice the body come from around the corner until she smacked right into it. Surprised by the sudden contact she stumbled and almost fell, had it not been for the two hands that steadied her.

"Heh, sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going" She apologized as she regained her footing.

"It's no problem, hey, do you need help, you look lost." Gazing up at the face of the person she's bumped into her breath caught in her throat. Good God he was _hot_! Piercing blue eyes, shaggy brown hair and a tall lean body. Had she not been standing right in front of him she probably would have drooled.

Finally snapping out of the daze she was in, she responded "Yeah, actually I am, and that would be great, ummm..."

"Kiba" he filled in for her.

Smiling she replied "Kiba, you see I'm new here, and don't exactly know my way around yet. I'm Autumn by the way" she offered her hand to him, which he took.

"So, I'm guessing by the skates you would like for me to show you to the ice rink. And just out of curiosity, didn't you have someone to show you around the school?" he asked as he started walking.

"Yes actually I did, but most of the time I was tuning her out, she had to be the most annoying girl I've ever met. I asked her where the rink was, but for the life of me I can't find a damn sign anywhere!" huffing she continued after him as he rounded a corner. She rolled her eyes as she looked down the hall. "Until now!"

"You probably had Hillary as your guide. Anyways, I'll see you around school, you should be fine by yourself now. If you want the full tour just let me know and I'll be more than happy to" For some odd reason him saying that made her stomach do a summersault. Shit!

"Yeah, sure, that'd be great, see ya around!" she gave a slight wave as he walked off.

She let out a heavy sigh. This was the last thing she needed, to fall for a guy when she barely knew anything about, especially after just breaking up with Josh. She wasn't sure she could handle something like that just yet, she wasn't ready for it, mentally or emotionally. It all still hurt too much. Now don't get the wrong impression, she was far from being the over emotional type of girl dreaming about how she was going to marry the guy she was dating and then crying for days when they broke up saying how she loved him only after dating him like a week. It took two months for him to get her to say yes when he asked her out! And then they'd dated for a little over eighteen months.

A frown formed on her lips as she thought about what had happened that drove them apart and she quickly diverted her thoughts. It was not good for her to think about that, because she eventually got extremely pissed, and that was never a good thing.

She had a reputation of having a really bad temper, and anyone who had ever been on the receiving end had come off worse for wear. She tried to keep herself in check, but it was harder than it sounded! If you were lucky enough to be around her when she was in a bad mood then she was like a walking talking time bomb, and she was trigger happy.

She shrugged off all previous thoughts and continued down the hall to where the dumb signs were leading her. Entering through the large double doors that led into the large arena she looked at the people skating around the ice. Damn it! It looked like practice was pretty much over, oh well, she could just introduce herself to everyone.

Walking along the rows of seats and she set her skates down on one of the first chairs. She was about to sit down when she heard a very familiar voice shouting orders to the team on the ice.

'Is that Mr. Hiwatari? Wait a minute, if he's here then.....I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!!!' she was on the ice in the blink of an eye and before he even knew what happened Kai was on his back on the ice with a very pissed off Autumn on top of him pinning him down.

"YOU ASSHOLE! I can't _believe_ you! You transferred and didn't TELL ME!!" she fumed and she punched him in the chest.

He winced "Look Auto, I'm..."

"Don't even start! Do you know how horrible it is to be hit on by Carlos, of all people?!"

"No, can't say that I do"

"Don't get snarky with me! It's worse that being tortured in hell for a thousand years!"

"Auto..."

"I had to knock him out to get him to leave me the hell alone!"

"Auto..."

"You could have at least called and told me you weren't going to be there, that way I wouldn't have had to suffer through that!"

"AUTO!!!'

"WHAT?!"

"COULD YOU GET THE HELL OFF ME?!?!" that earned him a very loud smack and he groaned, she may not look very strong, but it hurt like hell when she hit you. "Ow, what the fuck!"

"I'll get off whenever I damn well please" to emphasize her point she turned so both of her legs were to one side then getting up slightly she brought her full weight back down on him. Feeling satisfied with the painful groan she received she got off of him and held out her hand for him to take so she could pull him up.

He silently thanked any god or goddess he knew that the rest of his 'team' had already gone to change, so it was only Autumn, his dad and himself. He didn't want the Imp getting anything to use against him.

"Hey Mr. H! How's it goin'?" Autumn called as she walked over to the man, careful not to slip as she was still in her shoes. When she was close enough he smiled and pulled her by the arm so she could grab the barrier.

"It's been pretty eventful. It's good to see you again, Autumn. So, what brings you here? And I know it wasn't just so you could pummel my son"

"Oh no, that was just a bonus" she replied cheekily and looked at Kai as Nicolai chuckled. "I'll be right back, I just need to grab my skates real quick"

"So, are you gonna answer the question?" Kai asked as soon as she came back and started to take off her shoes, getting ready to put her skates on.

"I'm getting to it, Kai! Geez, people need to learn to be more patient. I transferred here! So I guess that means you'll be seeing a lot more of me." after she finished lacing up her skates she stood and began to do small circles that got bigger the more she did.

"Why did you switch school's? I thought you loved it where you were going" Autumn shook her head at Nicolai.

"No, my dad loved it, I dealt with it. But then some stuff happened and I just couldn't stay there anymore. Besides, I finally convinced my dad I wasn't so little any more and that hockey was something I really loved to do. He finally caved, but I have to do as he says, meaning if he doesn't like something I do I'll go straight back to the other boarding school, for good." An audible sigh escaped her lips as she jumped into the air to do a 360, landing on one foot, then another.

"So, why did you guys come here? I mean Clonmel was like the perfect hockey school" She asked as she continued to skate around, doing random tricks.

"I took a job here, as you can see"

"That doesn't really explain why Kai came along though"

"I came because he asked me to, plus I had no more ties there really, so what was the point?"

"What about Tala? He's your other best friend" She glanced at the two.

"He transferred as well, to his old school"

"And where's that?" she asked, interrupting Kai.

"I was getting to it. Here, wouldn't you know it. Preston is where he used to go before he came to Clonmel" her lips formed an O as she nodded her head.

As if on cue Tala's red head emerged from the changing rooms as he walked over.

"Hey Kai, what's up man, what's taking you so long" Kai nodded his head in the direction of Autumn as she waved happily at Tala. "Oh, hey Auto, I didn't see you there" Tala stated nonchalantly as he continued his way to Kai. He stopped dead in his tracks when it finally registered.

"AUTO!!! What are you doing here!? Not that I'm not happy to see you, it's just that, I though you were at that school in England, or France or where ever it is?!"

Kai answered before she got a chance to "I thought that too, she transferred here. It looks like we're never going to get rid of her" He smirked at the glare she sent at him. "I'm just kidding Auto, we couldn't get rid of you even if we wanted to you're just that special"

"Aw, that's sweet really, to bad I don't care, you're still gonna pay for that comment, as well as not telling me you two transferred schools. At least I gave Carlos a nice shiner, he's gonna feel that for a long time, look, even my knuckles got bruised" she held up her right fist and sure enough the knuckles were turning a pretty shade of purple and blue. Tala, being the closest went to poke one but she quickly withdrew her hand, then stuck her tongue out at him "Don't touch it, they still hurt!"

Kai and Tala both rolled their eyes at her childish antics. "Whatever, you wanna tour through the school. I can take you, this is my old school after all" Autumn shook her head at them.

"No thanks Tala, I already got someone who's gonna show me around, so your services aren't needed as of yet"

"Sure, your loss, I'm gonna go, you coming Kai?"

"Yeah sure, I just have to change first, see ya around Auto"

"Bye guys" she called as they left.

Looking around Autumn noticed that Nicolai was gone; he had probably left sometime while they had been talking, so she was completely alone now. Her thoughts went back to the guy she had run into in the halls. He was gorgeous to say the least. He had this wild look to him, but also very calm, and he had a soothing affect on her, and that was something not a lot of people could do. He was tall, he had to be at least 6ft, but she found that appealing, very appealing. His hair was a wonderful shade of brown and hung down into his eyes.

His eyes. When she had looked into them she had felt as if she was going to drown, they were so deep. They were a brilliant blue, and calm like the sea after a storm, when everything got quiet again. Just one look in them and she felt her breath catch in her throat and her heart beat quicken, while her knees felt weaker. But she told herself it was just an attraction, that it would pass like all her other little crushes did after a week or so, and that she would be back to normal, her old self again. Yeah, that was it, just a petty school girl's crush that would eventually go away, all she needed to do was wait for that to happen.

But why did she get the feeling she was wrong? She hated that feeling, because more that likely it was right, and she was too stubborn to admit that she liked a guy she barely knew, it was just something she didn't do, and there was about a snowball's chance in hell that you were going to get her to admit that she was wrong about the whole situation and that she liked him. She wouldn't allow herself to feel that way again so soon after the last catastrophe. But then again, the last one had been a complete jerk, and the worst part was that she hadn't seen it coming.

Sighing she gathered her things and after changing shoes, she headed down the hallway humming a song that had been stuck in her head a while. She just prayed she didn't get lost again, now that she knew she had at least a small attraction to that guy she had met she thought it best she be around him as little as possible so she didn't get to attached. It was in her best interests, or was it?

Lost in thought she almost didn't hear the noises coming from a hall close to the one she was in. Turning corner to see what was going on she stopped dead in her tracks.

The other girls had left without her while she had been chatting with Tala, so Amber was walking through the school courtyard alone.

As usual, Amber's headphones were resting on her ears and music was blaring out. It was one of her mixed CD's she had gotten a while back for her last birthday. It had a lot of underground bands she had never heard of, but they were good, and she liked the songs. Her friend had even gotten the bands to autograph the case and CD for her. It was just like Fall, to pay attention to detail like that, and knowing the way she acted, she had probably gone to a lot of raves and parties to acquire them all, but that was who she was, a complete adrenaline junkie who would do anything for a good kick.

Her personality rubbed off on people, too. Amber recalled quite well that she went bungee jumping with Fall when she had been in town. Thing is, was that Amber was, and still is, completely terrified of heights, but somehow Fall had gotten her drunk (not that it was too terribly hard seeing as how Amber had a low alcohol tolerance level) and the next thing Amber remembered she was hugging Fall and was flying through the air upside down screaming for her life.

Amber shuttered at the mere thought of it. She didn't know what had possessed her to do such a thing, even if she was drunk. Amber always found herself doing things she wouldn't normally do around Fall, although some things had been extremely fun, like when they had gone around town dressed in black with paintball guns shooting all the guys with pink paint, though where Fall had gotten the guns was beyond Amber, she just went along with it.

Amber was torn from her thoughts when she literally ran into a rather large figure. Looking up she felt her lips twitch despite the trouble she had found her self in yet again. There stood Carlos Sonchez, hovering over her trying to look as scary as possible, but that large purple blue and black welt on his left eye prevented even the mere thought of anything along those lines. Wow, whoever was responsible for this did a number and was most definitely not an amateur in any way. The force needed to cause something that large must have been enormous and Amber was willing to bet the person who did this has a hand much in the same condition as his eye.

Finally letting her control slip a snort escaped Amber's lips as it soon became a full blown laugh.

"Kudos to whatever truck decided to use you as target practice, it's a shame they missed the bulls-eye" she went to continue down the hall but he stepped in front of her blocking her way. Amber took a step back and looked up at him.

"Look, you aren't even supposed to be in here in the first place, not your school, remember? And also, unlike you, I have places to be, now let me pa...OUCH!" Amber yelped as her back connected sharply with the lockers. He moved so fast she hadn't even realized what he was doing until it was too late, how had _that_ happened?!

His body was flush with her much smaller one and his large hand was on her delicate throat, making her breath come a little more difficult than normal. The look on his face to her she was in trouble.

"You're about to be in a world of pain, Plague. You turned down the wrong hall." As if to prove his point, his grip on her thin neck tightened. She was losing precious oxygen to her now starving lungs fast. Coughing, she tried to pull his hand free but it only wasted her strength and soon she was just a rag doll in his arms. Amber vaguely felt it when he punched her in the stomach, it came as only a sharp prick. The lack of air was taking its toll and ass black dot started to appear in her line of vision she saw a flash of dark red as she slipped from consciousness entirely.

Autumn stumbled and fell to her knees once again in the empty hallway. It wasn't that the small girl on her back was all that heavy, it was more the fact that Carlos packed a mean punch and she herself was in immense pain, plus the added weight of the girl was dwindling down the strength of her already tired body. Now factor in the part that she had been wandering around as she had yet again managed to find herself lost within the confines of the vast school.

'Great. Just fucking peachy. I'm about to upchuck from the pain, that's if I don't pass out first, and to top it all off I'm lost in a school the size of a small country!' Finally catching a break she saw a stray kid walking the halls.

"Hey, you, girl! Yes you! Come here" the small girl walked timidly over to Autumn and was about to ask her what happened to them when Autumn cut her off.

"Look, I don't really have the time or strength to answer any questions, so don't ask. Do you by any chance know where Kai Hiwatari's dorm room is?" at the girl's weak nod she continued "Great, do you think you could take me there? Fast?" Again the girl nodded and they set off down the hallway at a brisk pace.

When the tiny girl stopped at what Autumn assumed was the appropriate door she knocked lightly and took off like she was afraid of something. Autumn looked confusedly after her until the door opened and she found out why she had taken off. However she was to beat to care as she passed out into the arms of the burly teen who answered the door.


	2. Paperthin Hymn

The only person or thing I own is Autumn and her relationship with everyone. Amber Marie Benson belongs to the very talented **_Zadien. Coors_** owns Shahero Keato. Both are happilly psychotic together. Don't sue or I shall be forced to kill, lol.

_

* * *

_

_Paperthin Hymn_

Autumn's dark cherry red hair fell across her pail face as Kai practically ran down the hall with her, Tala carrying Amber in tow. Right now, they were headed down to the infirmary with the two girls, stopping now and then to open a door. Bryan had made to carry Amber's small form but Tala got to her first, lifting her off of Autumn's back. She had numerous cuts and Amber's throat was a startling red color and bruises in the shape of fingers were forming.

Kai had flew into a rage the moment he saw them. The last time he had seen Autumn anywhere near the shape she was in now was when they were little and had been climbing trees and she fell out of it. As for Amber, he'd never seen her look so pale. Her skin wasn't it's same lustrous golden color, now it was a sickly yellow that had his stomach churning. Whoever did this to them was seriously going to pay.

He slid around the last corner and burst into the hospital wing, nearly falling on his ass in the process. The nurse looked up startled and gasped at the sight before her. Kai and Tala were panting lightly from running around the school, with two unconscious girls in their arms. It was a very peculiar sight.

The nurse jumped up and went about preparing two beds for them, scurrying about to get this or that.

"Bring them over here dears." She said as she pulled back the curtains around two beds side-by-side.

After they were set down she began to take care of their injuries.

"What in the world happened? In all my years here I've never seen this amount of damage" She motioned to Autumn as she wrapped Amber's neck in thick fluffy gauze.

"We don't know M'am. They just showed up at our dorm. We are as clueless as you are." Kai replied tightly, with barely restrained anger. How could this have happened? Autumn just got here, and who would want to choke Ember? It's not like she had enemies, hell him and Ian had been her only enemies and look at where he was now, he was dating her for Christ's sake!

"Oh my…!" Both Kai and Tala looked over at the nurse, who had lifted up Autumn's shirt to look at her ribs, which were turning and ugly shade of purple and blue. "Those might be broken. It looks as though these girls were attacked."

Kai and Tala exchanged worried looks.

* * *

"I wonder where Amber is. She's been gone a while now." Shahero was curled up in Hitoshi's lap in the senior lounge with all the other girls, and a few of the guys, The other's from Kai's room had yet to come down. Amber had gone to get tonight's movies from their dorm.

"She probably bumped into Kai or something and dragged him into the dorm for a make out session."

"Hardly, Ian. You should know that Amber isn't like that. Oh hey Bryanny, have you by any chance seen Amber?" Shahero asked as the burly teen walked into the room followed by the rest with the exception of Kai and Tala. Everyone looked gloom.

"Shahero, you need to come with me." Bryan stated

"What? Why?" Her brows knitted together.

"Something…happened. Please, just come with me, no questions" He sounded upset over something.

"Ok. I'll catch ya'll later" Worry was working it's way into her system. Whatever had gotten him worked up could not be good, and she had a feeling it had to do with Amber. So climbing off Hitoshi's lap, she followed Bryan out the door and down the hallway.

* * *

When your only friends are hotel rooms  
Hands are distant lullabies  
If I could turn around I would tonight

_Autumn stared at her broken reflection in the shattered mirror. Tears were streaming down her face like torrents. How could she have been so stupid? How could she allow him so close to her? To her heart? She had fallen hard for him, and he goes and breaks everything she held dear. He broke her heart and her trust._

These roads never seemed so long  
Since your paperheart start beating leaving me suddenly alone  
Will daybreak ever come?

Who's gonna call on Sunday morning?  
Who's gonna drive you home?  
I just want one more chance  
To put my arms in fragile hands

_And her so called best friend? How could she do that to her? They had known each other since diapers for Pete's sake! She slid against the wall until she was sitting down, holding her bleeding hand, crying from the emptiness in her heart._

I thought you said forever  
Over and over  
A sleepless night becomes bitter oblivion

These thoughts run through my head  
Over and over  
Complaints of violins become my only friends

_Her room was completely trashed from her tantrum. The memory of the pair kissing replayed over and over in her head. It hurt so badly. She just wanted to forget everything. Yeah, that sounded good._

August evenings  
Bring solemn warnings  
To remember to kiss the ones you love goodnight

You never know what temporal days may bring  
So laugh, love, live free and sing  
When life is in discord  
Praise ye the lord

_Getting up, she walked over to her closet and started pulling out her clothes before throwing them out the window. She did this until her closet was empty of clothes as was her dresser._

Who's gonna call on Sunday morning?  
Who's gonna drive you home?  
I just want one more chance  
To put my arms in fragile hands

I thought you said forever  
Over and over  
The sleepless night becomes bitter oblivion

_She skillfully climbed over her balcony and dropped down. Once safely down she went and grabbed the lighter fluid and box of matches used for the outside barbeque._

These thoughts run through my head  
Over and over  
Complaints of violins become my only friends

_After thoroughly dousing her clothes with the burning substance she struck several of the matchsticks against the side of the box until they lit. She smirked slightly as she watched them burn._

I thought you said forever  
over and over  
The sleepless night becomes bitter oblivion

These thoughts run through my head  
over and over  
Complaints of violins become my only friends

"_Goodbye old self. I hope you lived well" with that she threw down the matches and watched as her old clothes drowned in the scorching flames. His A.J. was dead now, never to return again. Not that she would be missed anyway._

I thought you said forever  
over and over  
These thoughts run through my head

* * *

"She's WHAT!" Several heads turned in the direction of the pair walking towards the infirmary, but after a glare from Bryan, they went back to their own things.

"You heard me Shahero. Amber is unconscious in the hospital wing. And before you ask, we have no clue as to why she out cold in the first place. Some girls just shows up with her then passes out herself. All I know is someone had to make them that way and that someone is going to pay for what they did." Shahero didn't need to ask to know that he was upset about what happened, hell, she was too!

"Have you talked to Treasa?" She asked, glancing at him momentarily.

"No, we don't want her worrying. It will be bad for the baby."

"Bryan, she has a right to know about this." He winced at her tone.

"I know, I figured I'd leave it up to Amber, if she wants to tell when she wakes up then no one will stop her." This seemed to un-ruffle her feather a bit as she looked back ahead instead of glared a hole in his head.

* * *

"YOU DID WHAT! ARE YOU INSANE!" Carlos winced as the ginger haired teen proceeded to rip his head off.

"It would appear that he has a death wish. You should have known Hiwatari's friend was already irate with you, especially after you hassled her last night after the game. She's not someone to be messed with."

"And you would know this how Mystel?" Carlos received a glare.

"Does it really matter? Tomorrow we are going back so you can smooth things over so you aren't kicked off the team. You'll be lucky if the Imp's team doesn't tear you to shreds." Brooklyn said before a dispute could break out between the two, though his money would be on Mystel, based on what the boy had shared about his past.

"And you are to tell Boris what happened also" A horrified look crossed Carlos's face. "What? You didn't think we'd let this slide. You might be lucky if she doesn't press charges on you ass. How stupid can a person get Carlos? And you look like shit. I take it Winters really worked one over on you, huh?"

"She was lucky. I went easy on her"

"Uh-huh. I'm sure you did Carlos. Face it, she creamed you." A smirk played on Brooklyn's lips. This would definitely be something to tell Ari. She'd get a kick outta this one. Most assuredly.

* * *

Autumn groaned as she was pulled from the alluring darkness she had been wrapped in. She was sore, that was for sure. Flashes of what had transpired invaded her mind and she growled.

"Stupid eejit." She mumbled as she looked around the rather spacious room, taking notice of three other people in the room. One was in the bed next to hers and the other two were asleep in the rather uncomfortable looking chairs. Her lids were heavy as she lay back on the stiff bed. The room was dark, informing her that it was nighttime.

'Was I really out that long? The things that jerk puts me through. I swear this will come back to bite him in the bud." She sighed as she let her much needed sleep claim her again.

* * *

That's all people, but have no fear, I'm working on the next chapter as you read, granted with a little help from Zadien. I'll respond to your reviews when I am comfortable with my progress. And thanks for everything. walks off holding Oscar after long, boring speech


End file.
